Health Canada has approved Pfizer's new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine that contains mRNA from both the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants. Health Canada has approved Pfizer's new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the virus strains now most common in Canada. Health Canada said it has imposed terms and conditions on the authorization of the new vaccine, including a requirement that Pfizer-BioNTech provide information to Health Canada on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine on an ongoing basis to ensure its benefits continue to outweigh the risks. Health Canada says 88 per cent of the COVID-19 cases identified in mid-September were BA.5 and nine per cent were BA.4. Last month, Health Canada approved use of Moderna's bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, branded Spikevax, which targets the original virus and the first Omicron variant, BA.1.

Source: CBC News October 08, 2022 14:53 UTC